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About the course

The PGCE Computing with ICT will equip you to teach a range of courses up to and including A levels. During the course you will develop the skills required to be a specialist subject teacher capable of designing and delivering excellent lessons in both Computing and ICT.

You will be supported by tutors with many years of experience as classroom teachers, heads of department and subject advisory teachers. The course is carefully structured to support you through the early stages of observing and helping in classrooms, through to planning and delivering your own lessons. School-based staff will ensure that the teaching demands placed on you increase in line with your growing confidence, but you will always have ready access to support from your school mentor and university tutor.

The Computing with ICT PGCE benefits each year from a diverse range of students with a good gender balance, students of all ages and an ethnic diversity reflecting London's population. A key theme is collaboration and sharing and the course offers the opportunity to become a member of a supportive team of new teachers who often continue to work with each other after the end of the course.

The placement schools you will be attending during your PGCE will be two from across our alliance of excellent schools.

UCL Institute of Education (IOE) is a global leader in teacher education. Their programmes are recognised by Ofsted as “outstanding” in every criterion across Primary and Secondary Education. All UCL School Direct students have full access to UCL student support services and facilities.

This programme follows the exact same structure as the PGCE route and awards the PGCE and QTS. The only difference is that students apply directly via UCAS to the school or alliance. Candidates will still attend the same university lectures.

Interview process

Alexandra Park School is the lead school in the partnership and will be co-ordinating the recruitment process. This will involve attending an afternoon at one of the schools in the alliance and performing a variety of tasks, including some or all of the following: a short presentation, a lesson observation activity, a written feedback exercise, a group discussion activity and an interview.

If the placement is at another school in the partnership, staff from that school will also be involved. If you are successful at the school interview, our university partner will also invite you to an interview day at the Institute of Education. This day will also serve as an opportunity to learn more about the PGCE course, the tutors and the facilities at the Institute.

How school placements work

You will be trained in a supportive and aspirational environment and will develop the rigour, professional knowledge, understanding and skills necessary for the delivery of creative, purposeful and challenging teaching and learning.

Most of the training will be delivered by expert teachers in the partnership schools. This will be enhanced by attendance at the university. You will be assigned to one of the schools in the partnership in which you will do a teaching placement in the autumn term. In the spring term you will do a teaching placement in another of our partner schools. All schools have comprehensive intakes and you will get experience of working with young people of all abilities. At least one of your placements will give you access to post-16 learners.

You can express a preference for a placement at a specific school in the partnership and we will endeavour to meet your request. You will have full access to the Institute of Education. The course is identical to the PGCE so you will attend the exact same lectures. Prior to each of your two teaching placements you will have two weeks' intensive preparation at the university. As with the PGCE, much of your training will take place within the school itself.

You will be assigned two mentors from the staff of your assigned school, one from your subject area and one from the senior leadership team. From the beginning, you will be treated like a member of staff and will attend staff meetings and development days. Our mentors are outstanding teachers but they are required to undertake a rigorous training programme to develop their mentoring skills.

Successfully completing all aspects of the course will gain you the award of Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE), which also carries 60 M, level credits that may be used towards a subsequent Masters degree. The course also leads to the award of QTS (Qualified Teacher Status).

Fees

The course fees for 2019/2020 are as follows:

Student type

Fees to pay

UK students

£9,250

EU students

£9,250

Financial support

You could be eligible for either:

a scholarship of £28,000

a bursary of £26,000

To qualify for a scholarship you’ll need a degree of 2:1 or above in Computing or a related subject. For a bursary you’ll need a 2:2 or above in any subject.

You can’t claim both a bursary and a scholarship - you can only claim one.

Requirements

Qualifications

UCL requires a minimum of a 2:2 honours degree in a related subject and GCSEs in English Language and Maths (for Secondary programmes) at grade C/5 or above. UCL does not accept ‘additional’ or ‘applied’ GCSE subjects. For equivalency testing UCL will only accept tests from http://www.equivalencytesting.com/

We are looking for adaptability and the ability to work well under pressure. We will need to judge whether, by the end of the programme, you will be able to reach the required teaching standards.

Personal qualities

We are looking for ambitious trainee teachers who are passionate and enthusiastic about their subject and have a desire to share that with young people of all abilities in the secondary age range. This will be demonstrated by meaningful experience of working with young people of this age. This does not need to be paid work but might be helping with a sports team, drama group or youth club. We would like you to have done some observation in a classroom or you may even have worked in a school.

About the training provider

The New River Teaching Alliance is a fantastic collaboration, where participants can benefit from a unique school-based learning opportunity in partnership with world-class universities. The Alliance is a partnership of ten schools; all of which have achieved either Good or Outstanding Ofsted ratings. Our mission statement is simple: 'Recruiting, supporting and developing the very best teachers’.

We aim to create an environment in which staff, pupils and trainee teachers all feel valued and supported. We have worked with trainee teachers for 15 years and fully recognise how much vibrancy, enthusiasm and drive they bring to a school community. Previous participants have commented that the training they received with us “reflects a positive, supportive whole school ethos and a high level of expertise among staff”.

Our partnership is led by Alexandra Park School and comprises nine other comprehensive schools. All our schools are conveniently located in North London, allowing trainees to engage with more than one school during the course. We provide a unique opportunity to experience a diverse and contrasting range of teaching and learning styles.

Our staff are our most valuable resource and have a proven track record in training and professional development. They are excellent practitioners with exemplary behaviour management skills who are “experienced, calm and professional.” All of the schools in our alliance have successfully proven their ability to both train and develop new teachers; with a growing proportion of trainees choosing to embark on their new careers at these institutions upon completion of the course.

Training with disabilities and other needs

Our partners UCL IOE and Goldsmiths have full disabled access as do the following schools in the partnership: Alexandra Park School, Fortismere School, Woodside High School, Highgate Wood School, and Greig City Academy.

Applicants who would benefit from disabled access should let us know on their application so that they can be considered for placements at the appropriate schools.

Goldsmiths has full disabled access and is committed to admitting and supporting students with disabilities. The Institute also has a well-established Disability and Wellbeing team who provide support for students with a range of conditions. Every person is treated as an individual, and both institutions invite you to contact them as early as possible so that they can consider your needs and tailor their support to meet them.

Support and advice

Get support and advice about teaching

Register with Get into Teaching, the Department for Education’s free support and advice service, for personalised guidance from teaching experts. They can help you to prepare your application, book school experience, and access exclusive teaching events. You can also call them free on 0800 389 2500, or speak to an adviser using their online chat service, from 8am to 8pm, Monday to Friday.

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